The 20th century philosopher Williams James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.” And James Allen, in his book As a Man Thinketh, said, “The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.”

Mahatma Gandhi pretty much said the same thing, when he said, “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end up really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity even if I may not have it all at the beginning.”

These are all great ideas of what the mind can do for you, but just what is the best way to go about directing your mind and your thoughts that will bring big changes in your life? Again, great wisdom, and the 5 steps that can make this wisdom work for all of us, comes from my good friend, Paul J. Meyer. Here are those 5 steps that he gives in his booklet, “Self-Talk, Self-Affirmation, & Self-Suggestion”, on how to get what you want and be what you want to be.

Decide what you want to change. Before you write an affirmation ask yourself, “What do I really want?”

Create the affirmations that you need and, remember, they must be a positive, specific, declaration or statement about yourself, in the first person (I), in the present tense (I am), and about what you want to be, to do, to have, etc.

Write you affirmations down on paper. This one is a big one for me inasmuch as when I write it down, it begins to control me and push me to do it.

Visualize your affirmations as your current reality. When you can mentally see yourself already doing or being whatever you affirm, you are already on the road to success.

Repeat your affirmations over and over.

If you begin following these 5 steps, I think you will be very pleased with the results! And after seeing how effective they can be, it won’t be hard to keep it up either.

To make yourself $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 or $10,000,000 takes a lot of planning and work. You must learn and follow the right formulas, techniques and methods but it can be done. We’ve all seen it. So why do some people make it and others fall short? I think most wealthy people would agree it all comes down to how motivated a person is and to make a fortune, you need big time motivation. The good news is that self-determination and motivation is something you can create, control and direct towards any goal that you choose.

One of my favorite mentors, and a very dear friend, Paul J. Meyer, taught me how to motivate myself as well as being an example to prove his point. Paul grew up without money or connections to rich people but by the time he passed away he was worth about half a billion dollars. His writings and motivational recordings alone sold more than $2-billion’s worth. Probably the greatest lesson he taught me was the great power of “self-talk, self-affirmation, and self-suggestions.” That is, by the way, also the name of the great little booklet he wrote.

He states—and I totally agree with this—that, “regardless of all the similarities –and even differences—every successful person is self-motivated.” He also wisely notes that “the most effective motivation is that which is self-generated.”

The great Plato said “take charge of your life. You can do what you will with it.” Buddha taught that, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor certainly agreed saying, “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”

But can you control and direct your brain and make it think and guide you, to get out of life, anything you want, lifting you to the level of millions in net worth? Could that control greatly improve any part of your life? The answer is an unqualified “yes”. Mahatma Gandhi, William James and James Allen all agree on that point as well.

Next week I will share with you what they had to say about controlling and directing your brain to give you anything you want as well as going into detail about what Paul J. Meyer taught me in order to show you what any person can do to program their minds for whatever kind of life and success they want to have.